It is pretty self-evident what a central theme the arts are to our lives when we consider the very first words of the Bible. Genesis 1:1 says “In the beginning, God created heaven and the earth.” Our ultimate creator, God gave life and representation to every creature on earth. He is a magnificent artist and because we live in His image, we are all creators as well. At Lutheran High School, we have developed a high-quality arts program to help students flourish while bringing glory to God through their talents.
With a love for performance from the earliest years, Jillian Lietzau’s passion for theatre has brought her to be the Head of the Theatre Department here at Lutheran High School. She recalls her first role over as a dancing flower in Alice in Wonderland, all the way back in first grade. That was alongside being in an accelerated reading class that performed plays for younger students, youth choir, and high school theatre (in the LuHi Denver campus). But it took until her college years until she realized God’s calling for theatre, and how He’d guided her along that path for much of her life.
By now, you’ve seen the signs, read the emails, or heard someone talking about Beauty and the Beast. This year's LuHi Musical is one of the most iconic Disney movies of all time. It has become a hit on the Broadway stage as well. So how does Lutheran High plan to bring this “tale as old as time” to the stage?
When Sandra Esparza contacted Mr. Hollenbeck about making a donation of art supplies to the LuHi Art Department, neither could have predicted the collaboration that was to follow. Sandra’s husband, Henry Esparza, was a lifelong artist who split his time between his studio in Denver and Fountain Hills, AZ. After Henry passed away in May 2018, Sandra was left with art supplies, unfinished works, and a desire to pass on his legacy.
Recently, Chris Loesel was named to a new position as the new Director of Performing Arts at Lutheran High School. With this change in job description, we wanted to find out a little more about the new role and what this will mean for Lutheran High.
"I've been so busy. I needed that." Pastor Aaron Kotila, Pastor of Trinity Lutheran, Nashville
“Without tradition, our lives would be as shaky as...a fiddler on the roof!”
Purpose is something that people are always searching for in life. It’s not just purpose for your life but also purpose in daily activities, purpose of stuff, purpose of positions, and the list goes on. In fact, describing purpose is a part of my job. Take the new marimba for example. Do you want to know how many times I answered the question, what is the purpose of that? It was several. Or what is the purpose of the tubes on the bottom of that or what is the purpose of having an instrument that is that long or that large?
“O come and sing unto the Lord, shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation”
“Then they took our Savior, and led Him to a tree; and there they broke His body, poured out His life, put Him to death to rise again!”
“No time to tarry here, for I’m on my journey home (heaven)”
“Praise the Lord in the highest. Praise His holy name. Let all things that haveth a breath just praise the Lord...He’s worthy to be praised!”
“The Lord bless you and keep you and give you peace, Amen”
If you haven’t heard, Lutheran High will be presenting the musical, “The Wizard of Oz”, March 10-12, at the PACE Center in downtown Parker. While the story line is fairly well known by the general public, producing a stage version of the musical brings a whole set of challenges that may not be immediately realized when thinking about the tale of Dorothy and her journey back to Kansas. Think tornadoes, flying witches, fireballs, a wizard, flying houses, and other magic that really make “The Wizard of Oz” come to life.
